Your Favourite Ever CF Lives

[Tomatron]

There's not much more than I can really add to all the awesome stuff that everyone's mentioned so far, but as the person who had the idea of getting a bunch of like-minded folk off the internet and together for real in 2003, it's been a huge part of my life. It's brought people together, been responsible for relationships, families, a few fights, and lot of Travelodge's repair budget.

From the very first live 17 years ago, through meeting the US/Canadian folks in 2007, Germany & Denmark in 2009, Italy in 2011, Finland in 2013, Sweden in 2014, the London meetups, all those Alton Towers and Ghosterforce meetups, and everything in between, there's been some amazing memories.

It's great to see they are still going strong with a great team behind them, and once we're all allowed to meet up I can't wait to be back at one.

 

[SilverArrow]

This is so hard so I'll join in in reminiscing over some good times.

I joined the forum way back in 2011 but didn't come to anything in real life because of stranger danger for a number of years! My first "live" was, I believe, one of the Christmas meals (2015?). Everyone is always so shocked when I say that now because it seemed risky but to me it seemed quite the opposite as I had told myself I could always bail and get the train home! Turns out I didn't need to and here we are now!

My first actual live, live was the Thorpe and Paultons weekend in 2016.
With highlights such as "cf visit a **** nightclub"

and guess the caption games on the disc'o

This was the beginning of a thing!

My next proper live was my first live abroad, Plopsterix! This trip had a middling line up but was a fab trip full of wacky things.



There was really no going back after this trip. I now had the bug!

Next was Ghosterforce 2017 which was an amazing trip with so many great memories!
One of my favourite cf memories ever was everyone absolutely bricking it when getting onto Karnan. I had been quietly freaking out about it all week once I had realised that it was "THAT ONE" and slowly as the week went on everyone else started admitting that they too were a little bit terrified. The park owners were super nice to us, gave us merch and took us up the exit and I thought oh dang, I really can't back out now, that's when the panic set it and the atmosphere at the bag drop, batching and loading was electric with fear and anticipation. That was really quite a ride, it's not everyday that a train of goons freaks out over a new coaster!

Other highlights of that trip include my Taron and launch coaster awakening, the dolphin at Hansa and Movie park at Halloween!

Next up was Ghosterforce 2018! I had to leave early on this one due to uni commitments but this was still a fab trip! Highlights included the crocodile on the boat ride at Hellendoorn (and the ride in general), the rave "maze" and toverland being very foggy.


Then it was the Fantasy Island live. Odyssey was gross at the back and we did the thing below. (Huss Magic)


Then it was Walibi Holland and Bobbejaanland.

(Mushroom's fab photo)

An the PA live.

(Photo by MouseAT)


and then we had a nice Christmas event as well (there are probably other Christmas photos but I don't seem to have them)


Hard to pick a favourite but perhaps Ghosterforce 2017 as there was so much good stuff that was all new to me on that trip! All I know is I miss the lives and hopefully we can do them again soon!

 

[MouseAT]

Well, this might take a while.

I suppose the best place to start is back at the beginning with my first Live. Fortunately, it was one of the really good ones: Yorkshire Tripper, 2008. I had a pretty good idea of what to expect going in – most of the attendees were forum regulars, and I’d seen a lot of the classic CF Live videos from the likes of Dan Farrell, Big John, and Martyn Hoyer, which could give you a pretty good idea of who the regulars were.

As a weekend, that first Live easily exceeded expectations. The weather was spectacular, the group incredibly welcoming, the ride line-up solid, and the antics endlessly amusing. Looking back, it’s like looking at a bygone era in many ways. There’s definitely a bunch of familiar faces that newer members will recognise, but looking back, there were also so many people that used to be regulars but that we either rarely hear from, or that have disappeared entirely.

There have been other Yorkshire Lives since 2008, and most of them were entertaining, but the earlier ones were definitely better than the more recent ones. Lightwater Valley always seemed to entertain, but Flamingo Land gradually went down the tubes and got more and more burdenous, to the point where it was tolerated as opposed to enjoyed. Still, a CF Live is a CF Live, and there were always memorable people and antics to keep people sane.

There’s a whole load of “regular” Lives that all seem to blend together a bit in my memories. Ones held at Alton Towers tended to be a bit of a mixed bag, especially on busier days with larger groups. Blackpool always seemed to work well as a Live, as no matter how busy the park got, we always seemed to be able to ride plenty of stuff, and have a really good laugh doing so.

I’ve attended a few GhosterForce Lives at Thorpe and Chessington over the years, and again, it’s all a bit of a blur in retrospect. GhosterForce was always a weird Live, in that you had a really strange mix of horrifically busy parks, with all of the faff and annoyances that come along with that, balanced out by a hilarious mix of awesome people, amusing antics, and a real sense of community once the sun went down and the glowsticks came out in force.

Going by the couple of Lives I attended there, Paultons seems to be a great park for a Live. The combination of a lot of fun stuff to do, along with a bunch of excitable goons is normally a winning combination, no matter where we go.

So that's most of the memorable UK stuff covered. On to Europe, in chronological order:

First up, Germany and Denmark, 2009. For me, it was an awesome trip, with an amazing bunch of people, and a solid line-up of parks. On the down side, the pace was perhaps a little too intense at times, cramming in two parks per day for the middle three days of the trip. This is something we’d all learn from, and dial down the frantic pace ever so slightly for the future lives, in order to make things a bit more tolerable, especially for the drivers, who were pushed to the limit on some days. It’s also the Live where I blacked out at Hansa Park, cracked my head off the floor, and ended up hospitalised in nearby Neustadt for several days, so the end of the trip is fairly memorable for me for less pleasant reasons.

Italy in 2011 was another amazing Live. Again, we had an awesome line-up of CFers, doing what CFers do best. This time, the pace was a little more manageable, with a single park each day, and a nice, chilled evening in Verona on the day of arrival to start everything off. Good times.

I think Furie already summarised the 2012 Germany Live far better than I could. Weirdly, I remember more about the group dynamics and antics than I do the park days from this Live. Even with photos, I’d struggle to give you a breakdown of what we actually did on park in any detail, yet I can still picture members of the group sat around drinking beers outside the guesthouse in Rust, and can still distinctly remember both Furie trying to suppress Ian’s snoring one night by crawling round the bedroom floor and spraying him repeatedly with a water pistol. The snoring would stop briefly each time, and then start up again a few seconds later.

Then came Finland in 2013, which is easily one of the best Lives I’ve ever attended. We had a solid four days of awesome parks and silliness, as well as a solid selection of rides. There simply wasn’t a bad moment anywhere on this trip. The quality of the parks and attractions varied a bit, but all of them were amazing fun for a wide variety of reasons, and I honestly think we could have argued for any one of the four days being the most fun, for completely different reasons. Most multi-day Lives have their natural peaks and dips, so this Live is definitely one of my all-time favourites due to it being so consistently entertaining from beginning to end. The entire group just seemed to gel so well throughout the trip, too.

The Sweden Lives are difficult ones for me to judge objectively. On the one hand, all of my Sweden trips have been amazing. On the other hand, they’re difficult to judge based upon the Lives alone. In 2014, the additional days in Gothenburg, at Tussenfryd, and then in Denmark afterwards with a smaller subset of attendees were easily as memorable as the Live itself, making the Live proper (consisting of Liseberg, Skara Sommerland, and Grona Lund) difficult to rate by itself. 2016 is equally difficult to rate, as only the Kolmarden day was officially a Live, yet many of us added on our own extra bits and pieces on either side.

The 2019 GhosterForce in Germany was a perfect example of bigger not necessarily being better. Four people with exactly the sort of mentality to get the best out of some rather quirky parks. This had to have been one of the most expensive European Lives I’ve attended to date, and yet it was worth every single penny spent to be a part of it. I’m not going to spend ages rambling about it here, but seriously, check out the trip report thread for this one if you’re not yet convinced of how awesome even the smallest Lives can be.

Which brings us to the finale - Port Aventura, 2019. Again, CFers doing what CFers do best. An unofficial, pre-Live evening in Ferrari Land, with walk-on Red Force, and amazing views over Salou at night. Two amazing, chilled out days at PA, with a load of amazing people, riding, faffing, drinking, and enjoying hilarious post-park goonery in the hotel bar.

If it's not already apparent from reading this thread, it really is the people who make CF Lives so great, and the humour and camaraderie that makes a Live so much more than just going to a park with a bunch of enthusiasts to ride stuff. Sure, that's a big draw, and it's one thing that we've all got in common, but the friendships really are the foundation that keep me coming back for more. 2020 has been a fairly quiet season for me, all things considered, but it's certainly notable that, whilst I've not really missed being able to travel to larger, destination parks all that much, I've certainly missed the people. Here's hoping we can bring back the madness at some point in 2021!

 

[Serena]

Today, Facebook decided to remind me that this time last year we were having a wonderful time in PortAventura!

Looking back now it was definitely one of my favourite Lives, I have so many warm memories from that weekend. Crying with laughter in the hotel bar, running round re-riding Shambhala over and over again on the Sunday, impersonating the Christmas statues around the park, me and @SilverArrow being so nervous before first riding Red Force, the awesome fireworks and Christmassy atmosphere with all the lights in the park on the Saturday night, Chilly Willy!, meeting the Cookie Monster... I seriously can't wait until we can all do this wonderful hobby together again.


Here, have a few of @MouseAT 's great photos capturing the fun we had!

 

[Howie]

Ah yes, I had a similar reminder. Good times, man. Was definitely one of my favourite CF events too. Will probably get more Facebook reminders tomorrow, what with it being a 2 day event n'all.

And at least my legs made it into this picture. Mrs Howie thinks they're my best feature...

 

[SilverArrow]

A whole year since the last CF live for many of us! How time flies!

Goodtimes and many amusing photos! I think the fear must have been contagious that day as I had done TTD and KK since my last ride on red force but now you say that I do remember it! Always fun with a bit of fear and plenty of rerides! ? Other notable moments include shamelessly cramming on the kiddie cred, large amounts of shambhala time complete with sunset and night rides, the night in the bar with cheap beer and fun games! The long queue for sesame street with games and hungover stories haha. ? Braving baco again and enjoying the launch! Oh and rotondas with @Mysterious Sue! ?

Spot the cfers (credit once again to MouseAT)

 

[witchfinder]

Yep, that was my favourite CF live too - the sun, the rides, the laughs and the people were all top notch. Loved it!

 

[MouseAT]

It's really strange to think that the PA Live was over a year ago now. It's odd how it feels like it's been ages since the last Live, yet somehow it simultaneously doesn't feel like it's been that long since that Live. This time last year, I'd have been busy culling photos from the trip down to a manageable number whilst dealing with full-on end of season blues, and was commenting on how it'd be really weird to have such a short off-season going into 2020

 

[AJ]

I'll write something about the Lives another time, because they've all been pretty ****ing epic in their own way.

But imma leave this here. Pretty sure it's the only Live video I ever made ? Lawd knows. Bangin' weekend.

 

[VonRolland]

I'll write something about the Lives another time, because they've all been pretty ****ing epic in their own way.

But imma leave this here. Pretty sure it's the only Live video I ever made ? Lawd knows. Bangin' weekend.

Good god what year was this?

 

[AJ]

Good god what year was this?

2011

 

[Scott88]

A little late to the topic but I was having a scroll through the forum and found this topic so had to contribute.

First ever CF Live was Feb 2005 at BPB, Thrills & Chills, so much hype on these forums leading up to it and it turned out to be a great day. It was SO cold, but a great day and something I always look back on fondly. I made friends for life that day!

Most recent Live was a joint event with Pleasure Beach Experience and CF, it was great to plan it out with Ian and something I'd gladly look at doing again in the future if there's ever the opportunity.

Even though it's almost impossible for me to make the time to attend these days, I always check the calendar for the CF Lives scheduled and hope one day to meet up with everyone again.

 

[Chris Brown]

All of my favs have been mentioned through but gonna repeat them anyway;

Sweden 2016. The parks, the rides, the group, the weather, everything went really well on this trip. Made more fun by being in the height of Pokémon Go.

Italy 2015. Small group, great laughs, no drama, some quirky parks and a weird water park.

GhosterForce 2016. 3 amazing parks and a weekend full of laughs.

It’s hard to rank and pick favourites as it implies there have been Lives I didn’t find enjoyable which isn’t the case at all. Reading this whole thread brought back some incredible memories and made me so keen to get sorted with trips as soon as everything settles down again!

 

[Karen]

I realised that I didn't actally answer Howie's question/discussion (but neither has anyone else, so I'm not feeling too bad) - How do they rank?

So, I went through old pages, trip reports, photos, etc. I've got a kind of idea now. I count 33 CF-Lives over 15 years. I know people who have done many more and over alonger period (like Ian ) - but it's actually good to see what kind of impact they have made. Years later, can I remember the Lives and the antics - have they left me with meories to treasure.

The simple answer is kind of. Specifics though are difficult and some lives get miced up. I don't even know if I attended some Lives I've missed and there's one I'm not sure I attended, but think I did

So, here's my ranking, from lowest to favourite.

33. Coastal Coasting 3 - 2008.

I have photos from this Live, but remember nothing of it. Maybe a bit like the Midland Lives, I've just been to Blackpool too many times?

32. Stealth, Rattle and LOL - 2006.

I only went to the first day of this at Paulton's. My first time at the park and it was a washout. It rained pretty heavily all day, and the park was a little "bland" at the time. Some good times though with Big John falling down a hole and Cobra was great. Wet tends to subdue things though. Great company, but not the best Live.

31. Thrills'n'Chills - 2005

My first Live and something I talked about above. I wasn't completely comfortable with the group, but it was good putting faces to names and good enough to bring me to the next Live at Thorpe.

30. Southern Slam - 2005

Another one day trip, but I really enjoyed it. Got on with people much better and started fitting in. Nothing really stands out as it was a frantic day of ride, ride, ride at Thorpe. No real antics I remember - maybe the ORP competition started here?

29 - 23. Every Midland Mayhem/Alton Live - 2005 - 2013

I think I did them all apart from 2005's Lovely Rita. I can't tell them apart. I've been to Alton, Drayton and West Midlands so many times with Family_Furie that I just can't unpick them all.

I do have a few highlights. Y'arrr, DVD. Chuff Nuggets. Squishing Smiler biscuits. Fat boat evac. Kir climbing on bins to get a poi out of a tree. Cusson's Duel. Name badges with "random" words for people - only they made little phrases to those watching them being handed out . Giving Colin Bryan an award for Apocalpyse. Gay Lions. All the faff. Always with the faff.

I always enjoyed the Lives in the Midlands, and I think an average would be closer to 4 out of 5 - but without specific memories, I can't

Let's jog some memories.

I did a trailer for the "Tanked Up" Live - shooting footage early in the year before the Lives took place (having to go to theme parks to prep for going to theme pars, it was a hard life )

The Smiler Day. I think Del's first Live?

From the same Live - "Goonwatch"

22. Oakie Kokie - 2005

I don't remember much about the Live, but I do remember camping with Kir and Dave. We had a very silly time and laughed most of the evening. None of us even had a drink!

I love Oakwood though, and I never fail to have a really bad time. I remember Megafobia being stunning, but little else.

I think this video was from that Live:

21. Velocity Valley - 2005

My first visit to both Yorkshire parks. LWV was a gorgeous day and it was this Live I think I started to really fit in with the group. I remember chatting complete **** in the queue for Velocity and everyone just accepting it and joining in the ridiculous conversation. Can't remember much else. I did have a six week old baby though to be fair.

20. Oakie Kokie 2 - 2006

What a disaster this was. The rain just never let up. Including destroying most of the campsite overnight. We all got far too drunk in the "games room" of the camp site. I remember two things:

1. Cleaning up the campsite the morning after and making everything neat and tidy so we didn't lose our deposit (how did that go the following time? ).
2. Tanya waking up in the middle of the night, screaming. She was sharing a tent with me and Minor_Furie because hers had collapsed. I think we had fun though

19. Rock'nRollercoasters - 2006

Typical, fun Blackpool and Southport days. Weather was good and everyone seemed to be in high spirits. I think by this point we'd kind of moulded as a group and all were enjoying each other's company.

18. Save The Scenic - 2006

Stunning weather. Too many people in a Travelodge room. Water fights. Getting chucked off the Fun House. Burying shoes in the sand. Interviews. Behind the scenes tour. Broken Zipper. Pitiful Dreamland, but original Scenic. And I don't think I was meant to be there - I was strong armed into it at the last minute. Made me love the idea of Margate

17. The Knightmare Awakens - 2007

I just remember this being a heap of fun. The parks were both dreadful so we made the best of it. Pass the parcel on the Pirate Ship is a strong memory, as is Stone Cold removing himself from alomst every ride before the restraints opened. Awful parks, great days. "Slowpids" were born and Nadia went potty:

I think it was here that balancing things on Minor_Furie's head started for a little while:

16. GhosterFource 4 - 2007

I tend to only do the even numbers of GF (it's a Star Trek thing ). This was the one where we got the track walk around Dragno's Fury and everyone was in goon heaven. I don't remember much else, but GF's are always fab. Another one where they all kind of merge a bit.

15. Oakie Kokie 3 - 2008

Always enjoy Oakwood. This was a another wet one though and suffered for it. More memorable for almost running out of petrol on the way to Brean the following day. Still, it's where we learned to do "Dragon" in sign language

And for the love of Ryan Air - I think that YouTube may have muted this video:

14. Costa Del Force - 2008

My second CF-Live abroad and a bit of an odd one. It was great, but I got far too drunk on the first night. The rides were pretty dreadful (for what I'd been sold as a top tier park), but we had a great laugh. I still guffaw at the thought of the block who tripped taking his tray to the bin, and his elastic legged dance to keep the tray upright. Marc and I wet ourselves.

13. Cutting Edge - 2009

I remember this being really fun, and it's the Live that sold me Paulton's Park as a fantastic place to visit. Good weather and we had a great time gooning about. At Paulton's Park. Really brilliant day at Paulton's.

Thorpe? We rode nothing. Everything was broken. All day. We abandoned the Live at lunch time and that was that on the Thorpe day. I still remember not having a bad time though. We just sat around laughing and bitching about the park

12. GhosterForce 6 - 2009

Great day - I won the fancy dress competition

11. Yorkshire Tripper 4 - 2013

We queued... And we queued... And we queued... This is what makes a CF-Live worthwhile. You get to spend your time with a bunch of like-minded weirdos and just hang out together. Being able to make the days fly by when you never get a chance to ride anything is something a bit special.

We're all a bit special... Are we ready for an earworm?

10. GhosterForce 10 - 2013

This was that odd year where we tried to do the two Midlands and Two Southern parks over 4 days. An experiment that wasn't overly successful, but I still really enjoyed my two days in the Midlands. I love Alton at Halloween and Nemesis in October, in the dark, is incredible.

9. Oakie Kokie 4 - 2014

Possibly the most awful day I've had at Oakwood. Operations were awful. Food was dreadful. It was just a bit of a chore. It was a good bunch though and we really had a laugh.

Giving people marks for their tea-tray performance was genius!

8. Blackpool - 2016

I'm not sure where the names went? Out with the bands and badges (we don't need no steeking badges). Notable for me as a return to CF-Lives after a year off. Some new old guy joined who has made a really great mark on CF since. This was also the year of Maxi-Minor_Furie. He'd been tall enough for a lot of coasters for years, but scared of anything that inverted. This Live (and other Lives in 2016) gave him the chance to mop up the last of the UK "Big Rides".

Great meeting old and new faces alike. Led me into the rest of 2016 nicely

7. Paultons/Thorpe - 2016

And the follow up CF-Live of 2016. Had a really fantastic two days. It's easy to understand why more recent Lives are higher ranked, due to better memories of them. There'd been a bit of a break for me though and this was great to get back onto the CF-Live bike I'd come off. Loved both days, but the most stand out moment for me?

Serena calming Maxi-Minor_Furie down and allowing him to work out he could do Saw. He was so proud of himself overcoming his fear. We still have a resin model ont he mantle piece to remind him of it. I can't thank Serena enough for doing that - you're fab

6. Sweden - 2016

And again, 2016 was a cracker of a year. Helix, Helix, Helix. Also Balder though, which really shone compared to when I rode it way back. More great people, the wonderful Sweden and one of my absolute favourite parks and cities in Liseberg and Gothenburg. So much Helix though

5. Wooden It Be Nice - Sweden/Norway - 2007?

My first CF-Live abroad and it was delicious (and not just the meatballs). I have millions of memories from this event, but I don't think there is anyone here now that was there. Stone Cold getting caught in a tyre stack. Harvey being tied to the railings by the SuperSplash. Slayed going down the tram tracks taking the hire car back. I could go on and on. I fell in love with both countries this trip and the idea of an extended CF-Live abroad. I have a video, but YouTube spited it

4. Coastal Coasting - 2005

This is the Live I remember quite vividly, mostly because I have such a long, dreadful video of it I think that I have everyone there though going on the old Wild Mouse (King Solomon's Mines) - so the video is awful, but a great picture of the people who attended. The class of CF 2004-2007 I reckon.

So, down to the top 3. What could they be?

3. Yorkshire Tripper - 2008

I hate Flamingoland, but loved this Live. The LWV day was excellent. So much fun with the party bags, inflatables, Stone Cold (always Stone Cold). Was this the height of the "old" CF-Lives? Quite possibly...

This one will shock people

2. East Anglia Extravaganser - 2012

2012 was a great year for CF-Lives. The weather was dreadful, but we had a huge amount of fun at Great Yarmouth. I loved every minute of both days. I'd never been to either place (GY or PWH) so lots of new coasters and parks to explore. One wher emost of my memories are in the video:

And top of the pile, the epic:

1. Germany - 2012

Lord Morton. Horses Arse. Naked Woman Log Flume. Blue Fire. "IT HURTS" Expedition GE Force in the rain. Gemran woman yelling at us angrily, then working out she was offering us alcohol. "Not in the face". Stunning four days in Germany, with some of the best rides and two of the best parks I've been to. And, we didn't get chucked off the Fun House.

I tend to know the CF-Lives better where I could find the old banner images and dig out trip reports. There was something enveloping about the thing that has got lost as technology has moved on. We lived on the forums and would spend weeks preparing and getting excited for a CF-Live. Then expulse a mass of text and photos onto a trip report. Something that has sadly been lost in these times of instant gratification and shallow virtual interation. I'm now very old indeed - but it was better in the old days

Well - there's two hours of my life I'm not getting back - thanks Howie!

Wow some of those vids! Memories

 

[Karen]

Just remembered that I spent a GhosterForce day at CWoA walking around wearing fluorescent jacket and a mullet wig. And I didn’t give a ****.

The Spanish Live we did with PAC, where I did a faffle and all the Spanish realised the prizes were ****, so they joined in with the laughing and booing. Vadge ended up translating the numbers. Sexy Carrot’s (An attractive PAC member who came dressed as a carrot) mum gave me a mock slap. It was brilliant.

The Live at Camelot when me and big John squeezed in one row of a the caterpillar cred and we each had a leg hanging out the side - they sent the ride round anyway.

I have that caterpillar ride on my vids

 

[Karen]

I'll write something about the Lives another time, because they've all been pretty ****ing epic in their own way.

But imma leave this here. Pretty sure it's the only Live video I ever made ? Lawd knows. Bangin' weekend.

I was thinking about that cygnet at DMP just the other day!

 

[Karen]

I have that caterpillar ride on my vids

1.28 and 1.40. Enjoy

 

[Pierre]

Lovely memories from everyone there. I’d love a care free goon trip again if I ever got the chance.

Couple of things from me… I know this is about the best but @furie hit the nail on the head about Oakwood in 2006. The rain was, in typically Welsh fashion, absolutely relentless. That ‘games room’ became many people’s beds for the night as they’d abandoned their tents. I’m sure this is the only time I met Dan Farrell as well?

My first live was also a thrills n chills but it was 2006 as opposed to many peoples 2005 trip… staying in a B&B with some of the regulars and trustingly drinking Big Johns “red ****” and “blue ****”. I’d passed my driving test in 2005 and got a ****ty Vauxhall Nova and drove the little beauty to Blackpool solo a few months later. This same Nova took me to many CF lives that year including Pembroke via Huddersfield to pick Harvey up. I’m driving through the valleys of Wales behind tractors and feeling tired after 8+ hours of driving due to sat nav taking me through Wales (rather than M6, M5, M4) and Harvey is just cracking cans of Stella Artois open in the passenger seat of the nova haha.
2006 was the year of lives for me, I’m pretty sure I only didn’t do the save the scenic one but did all the others. It culminated, of course, with Ghosterforce where I met a lot of the forum regulars who hadn’t ventured outside Chertsey all year including Sam. Within hours of introduction we were texting abuse in a friendly way to each other across the queue line from Rush, that is a pastime we still participate in to this day (just not in the Rush queue). The group photo of GF 2006 shows how many new faces were there for that live and it was truly awesome.
I also have to shoutout to Farup My Frikadella where I finally got to meet @ECG and we had many awesome nights in the watering holes we found in each town. After doing 8 parks in five days followed by Thorpe Park the day we returned I think I had overdone it at that point and realised that was my peak, I should have just went home after the official live as I didn’t enjoy Thorpe at all.
I had a bit of a hiatus from CF Lives but ended up meeting up again 2013 for the Smiler opening (that wasn’t) - this is still a fond meet for me as it had been so long since I had seen many people and it was great to catch up - and yes @DelPiero you are right, it’s the only time we have met!
I’m pretty sure I’ve said this many a time but I came out of a long term relationship in 2005 (not by my choosing) and was in a low place but meeting up with everyone throughout 2006 was a great distraction and I met some fantastic people and friends for life. The ****ty travelodges, the talking **** in queue lines, the shuttling of people from Malton train station to Flamingo Land in the Nova blasting out ‘From Paris to Berlin’ in the North Yorkshire Moors, the ****ty Crystal Maze thing near Oakwood and the Games Room shenanigan - honestly just all awesome.
If you are reading this forum and thinking about attending a CF-Live, don’t just think about it… do it! You will meet lots of weird and wonderful people and even if the park you go to is ****, or has a load of rides closed, or 2 hour queues for everything, you will still have a fab time!

 

[DelPiero]

Have you been to a live/meet up since that one in 2013 @Pierre?

 

[Pierre]

Have you been to a live/meet up since that one in 2013 @Pierre?

Haha no which is answers why we’ve never met again! I had a really random meet up in September 2012 with Ian, Darren B, Peter and Rachel in Holland and the Smiler meet up in May 2013 then I dropped off the radar. Met a girl, got married, had kids that life took over really haha.